


On One Condition

by sonnet009



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-06
Updated: 2014-06-06
Packaged: 2018-02-03 16:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1751852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonnet009/pseuds/sonnet009
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nagisa confesses to Rei. But if he wants to date him, there's a catch...</p>
            </blockquote>





	On One Condition

**Monday (7 Days Left)**

"What?!" Rei gaped.

"I like you, Rei-chan," Nagisa repeated. "Please date me!"

"You—. I—. We—. What?!"

Nagisa took a deep breath, kept his back straight and his head lowered, and didn’t break his bow.

"I like you, Rei-chan. Please date—."

"Okay, okay. I got it. I understand. Please— please don’t say it again." Rei felt his ears burning. "And please stop bowing."

Nagisa straightened, and that just made things worse, because now there was some pretty intense direct eye contact going on.

"Is this a joke?" Rei asked.

"Of course not!" Nagisa replied immediately.

"Oh," Rei said, hope crushed.

"What… what do you think of me?" Nagisa asked, casting his eyes shyly downwards.

_I don’t know. You must be crazy. I don’t see you that way. We’d make a terrible couple. You’re my best friend._

A million answers flew through Rei’s head, but he couldn’t bring himself to say any of them. If Nagisa was serious, then he’d be hurt, and Rei didn’t want that kind of guilt on his shoulders.

But this had never happened before. No one had ever confessed to Rei. Certainly no boys! And certainly no one as ditzy and overbearing and plain _wrong_  for him as Nagisa.

As the moment stretched, and things started to turn even more awkward, Rei desperately grappled for something to say —  _anything_.

"Okay," he said.  _No, no, wait, not that!_  “If— if you manage to score higher than me on the math test next week, I’ll accept your confession.”

Nagisa stared at him, and Rei felt cold sweat running down his back. He was such an idiot — anyone would see through this ruse in a second! After all, there was no way a math-impaired airhead like Nagisa would ever be able to beat Rei at his strongest subject. Rei had probably just really offended him with this obviously fixed condition and—

"Okay!" Nagisa smiled wide. "I’ll take you up on that challenge!"

"…You will?" Rei said in a strangled voice.

"Sure! If Rei-chan only wants to date fellow nerds, it can’t be helped."

"Right…" Rei murmured, too shocked to feel affronted.

Nagisa winked. “Just watch me, Rei-chan! I’ll win your heart, no problem!”

 

**Tuesday (6 Days Left)**

"Reeeiii-chaaan…" Nagisa moaned, forehead pressed against his desk.

"No," Rei said, sternly.

"Pleeeaaase, Reeeiii-chaaan…" Nagisa only moaned louder. "You have to help me!"

"I’m busy enough studying by myself. I don’t have time to tutor you as well."

Nagisa made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a groan, then suddenly stopped and narrowed his eyes in Rei’s direction. That couldn’t bode well…

"Okay. I understand," Nagisa said with suspicious acceptance. "If you’re too busy, you’re too busy."

"R-right," Rei agreed warily.

Another sigh. “I totally understand.”

"Yes, you said that."

"I mean, I remember back when I was helping teach you to swim, Rei-chan. All those hours of work… and I was  _super_  busy with my own training.” Nagisa’s eyes flicked innocently to Rei’s, then away again. “So I understand.”

"…Fine. I’ll help you study." Predictably, Rei caved.

Nagisa beamed. “Yay!”

"But I don’t want to waste my time, so you can’t slack off."

"Don’t worry, Rei-chan." Nagisa set his jaw tight, almost comically serious. "This is too important."

"…Right," Rei sighed.

 

**Wednesday (5 Days Left)**

The first thing Nagisa did was throw himself onto Rei’s bed, belly up, stretching out his arms like a cat lazing in the sun.

Rei quietly set about unpacking the books he needed from his school bag, resolved not to chide. He had been against this stupid “study date” from the start, and if Nagisa had no real interest in learning, then Rei wasn’t going to waste time on him.

But as soon as Rei had settled cross-legged at his table, Nagisa slipped down onto the floor beside him, producing his own workbook and cracking it open. Even as Nagisa flicked quickly to a blank page, Rei caught glimpses of a  _lot_  of incorrect equations in there.

Turning to his own studying, Rei got in a solid five or six minutes of work before Nagisa’s huffing and fidgeting got annoying enough to prompt a reluctant, “Is something wrong?”

"You’re not  _teaching_  me,” Nagisa said, cheeks puffed out. “You said you’d teach me.”

"What are you having trouble with?" Rei indulged him.

"The math. All of the math."

"Narrow it down for me," Rei managed through gritted teeth.

“ _This_. What the heck does this mean?”

Rei looked to where Nagisa was pointing.

"Those are just warm-up questions. Easily solved using Pythagoras’ theorem."

Nagisa looked at Rei blankly.

"You must’ve learned this in junior high," Rei said.

Nagisa didn’t even blink.

"It’s _really_  simple. You must remember,” Rei pressed. “Using this equation, you can work out the sides of a right angled triangle—”

"Oh! I know triangles!" Nagisa brightened.

"Right." Rei breezed past that. "Well, if you—"

"Three sides!" Nagisa said, grinning.

"Yes, and using this equation, you can—"

"And squares have four."

Rei stopped; closed his eyes; took a deep breath.

Then slowly began again: “If you apply this theorem to—”

"Octagons have eight."

Rei sat dumbfounded. Nagisa held his ultra serious expression for a few more seconds, before suddenly bursting into laughter.

After an incredulous moment, Rei joined him.

"You are so… so…" he said through bouts of helpless mirth.

As the guffaws faded to chuckles, then to silence, Nagisa tilted his head, looking pleased.

"You’re smiling, Rei-chan," he said. "I’m glad."

Rei’s confusion must have been obvious. Nagisa shook his head, a little self-conscious, but continued anyway.

"You’ve been a little weird since… uh, well for the past couple of days. I was scared that maybe I’d upset you. You know. Because of what I said." Nagisa started and stumbled, then fell quiet with reddened cheeks.

"You didn’t upset me," Rei said.

"Oh, good." Nagisa’s smile grew. "I don’t know what I’d do if I made you start hating me, Rei-chan."

"That would never happen," Rei replied, maybe a bit too sharp with surprise. "No matter what, we’re friends, right?"

"Yeah," Nagisa said, eyes cast down but smile ever-expanding. "Yeah, we are."

Rei nodded in satisfaction. As long as Nagisa understood.

 

**Thursday (4 Days Left)**

Usually at this time, Rei and Nagisa would go up to the roof together to join Haruka and Makoto for lunch. But today, Rei couldn’t find him anywhere. Heading up alone, Rei grumbled to himself about how he was going to give that boy a piece of his mind for going ahead without him. It was just inconsiderate.

"Over here, Rei," Makoto waved.

Haruka briefly looked up from his mackeral bento. “Hi.”

"Where’s Nagisa-kun?" Rei looked about.

"Isn’t he with you?" Makoto asked.

Well, things were just  _weird_  now.

"Eat," Haruka said. "He’ll come."

Rei sat down in his usual spot and the three of them passed their lunch hour in the usual way. But Nagisa never did show up, and maybe it was because things felt so delicate between the two of them right now, but Rei that found he just couldn’t settle.

Heading back to homeroom, ten minutes early, Rei kept a sharp eye out. His efforts would’ve proven to be completely fruitless if he hadn’t happened to hear a very loud, very familiar voice coming from a room nearby.

"Gaaaaaah!" the voice said.

 _The library?_  Rei thought, dubiously.  _It can’t be…_

Sliding open the door, Rei peeked into the large room. It was empty, except for a single figure, hunched sadly over a table piled high with mathematical text books.

"Nagisa-kun?"

"Oh! Rei-chan." Nagisa glanced up. "I’ll join you guys in a minute. Just let me finish this chapter."

"Actually, lunch is over," Rei said, coming to stand beside the table.

"It is?" Nagisa’s eyes widened. "I’ve been reading this one chapter for an hour?"

Rei’s eyes dropped to the open book. Nagisa was on page 5 of the  _Introduction to High School Level Mathematics_.

"I’m dumb as a squid!" Nagisa threw his head back and wailed. "No, squids are smarter than this! I’m dumb as— as— as this table!"

Nagisa banged the tabletop with his fist to punctuate his point, then fell silent, closing his eyes and resting his forearm over them.

"You’re not stupid," Rei said gently. "People are naturally talented at different things. Some people are good academically, some are great athletes…"

"But I’m not a  _great_  athlete,” Nagisa argued. “I enjoy swimming, but it’s not like I’m Haru-chan or Rin-chan.”

"Well…"

"Besides, you’re smart  _and_  athletic! How can you say that it’s okay to be bad at something, when you’re good at  _everything_?”

Nagisa looked truly miserable. Rei swallowed.

"I’m not good at  _this_ ,” he said, quietly.

After a moment, Nagisa moved his arm enough to peek out with one eye. “What?”

"People. Saying the right things. Being a good friend." Rei averted his eyes, struggling with the painful truth of what he was saying. "Before I met you, I didn’t get much practice at it."

"Rei-chan…"

"I’ve never met anyone like you, Nagisa-kun. You can connect with anyone so easily. No matter who they are, you can make them feel at ease just by being yourself. And that’s the kind of thing that really can’t be taught. It’s something that makes you truly exceptional."

Nagisa was silent. Rei wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing and, suddenly feeling very bashful and awkward, he just couldn’t stop himself from talking.

"That’s why it doesn’t make any sense," he said. "I don’t understand why someone like you would say something like, ‘I like you,’ to me. It— it defies all logic." Now started, he couldn’t seem to stop. "I don’t understand why you would go so far just for the sake of— for the sake of—."

"Rei-chan," Nagisa interrupted softly. "I don’t think there’s anyone smarter than you in the whole world. And from the very first time I saw you pole vault, I knew there’s  _no way_  anyone more beautiful. And… the fact that you’re here now, saying these things to me, proves that there’s no one kinder.”

Rei sputtered. “That’s—.”

_Stupid. Ridiculous. Corny. Wrong._

"I really like you, Rei-chan," Nagisa said, his smile slowly returning.

Rei swallowed, and didn’t say anything.

 

**Friday (3 Days Left)**

First period was math, and Saito-sensei had arranged a practice test in advance of the real thing, with the promise of returning the graded papers by the end of the day for review over the weekend.

Before heading for the pool that afternoon, Rei and Nagisa stopped by to pick up their results.

"Good work as always, Ryugazaki-kun," Saito-sensei said as he handed over a paper with a big red 98% circled in the corner.

Nagisa held out his hands expectantly, and Saito-sensei gave him his paper.

"Hazuki-kun, there you go," he said, prompting Nagisa to wilt a little at the lack of praise.

Rei didn’t manage to catch a glimpse of Nagisa’s score before the paper was suddenly folded in half and stuffed into a school bag.

"Okay, Rei-chan! Ready to go?"

No matter how Rei pestered, Nagisa refused to divulge his score. By the time they reached the pool, it had practically turned into a shouting match.

"Why does it matter?" Nagisa yelled, storming ahead.

"Why?!" Rei followed.

_Didn’t you say this was important?_

"I tutored you," he argued, deftly avoiding a much larger and more complicated subject. "If you didn’t do well, it reflects just as poorly on me as it does on you. No, perhaps even more—"

"Huh?" That stopped Nagisa in his tracks. "No, Rei-chan, you didn’t— I mean, I—."

With a sigh, he finally gave up. Fishing around in his bag, Nagisa finally showed Rei his test paper.

"68%?" Rei’s mouth went slack with surprise. "Nagisa-kun, this is…"

"Awful," Nagisa huffed.

“ _Brilliant_ ,” Rei said, proudly. “You’ve improved by more than 15% after just a few days of studying.”

"But I did my best," Nagisa said, still looking deeply unhappy. "I did my very best and I still couldn’t get anywhere  _near_  your score.”

_Oh. Right._

Rei felt like an idiot. He’d forgotten the whole reason behind Nagisa’s sudden interest in academics. The competition. …The confession.

"This is pointless." Nagisa shook his head. "I can’t do it."

Hating that sad expression, that uncharacteristic tone of defeat, Rei found himself saying, “Well, it’s not like this counts. These aren’t the real test results, so there’s no point in feeling disheartened.”

Something complicated flitted across Nagisa’s face as he stared into Rei’s eyes for some long, intense seconds, before a small smile finally returned to its rightful place.

"Okay, Rei-chan," he said. "I won’t give up."

 

**Saturday (2 Days Left)**

A full-day study date may be be a little excessive, but since Rei had no plans other than going through his text books anyway, he didn’t really mind if Nagisa tagged along for it.

So they’d spent pretty much the whole day together, from 10 in the morning when Nagisa had shown up at his front door, a pile of books in his arms, to the present moment, with the sinking sun casting a soft orange light in Rei’s bedroom.

Rei returned from his quest to get a refill on their glasses of juice and bowl of potato chips. Nagisa was digging in before they’d even hit the table.

"Mom says you should stay the night, if you want," he said, sitting beside Nagisa once again.

"Is that okay, Rei-chan?" The look Nagisa gave him was weighted somehow.

"Of course," Rei said dismissively.

"Yay! Sleepover at Rei-chan’s house!" Nagisa beamed, throwing his arms in the air.

Rei clamped down on an indulgent smile and turned back to his books. Nagisa soon followed his lead.

By 10 o’clock, after dinner with Rei’s family, then winding down with a TV movie about a wandering samurai who helped helpless villagers with his fireball-shooting eyes, Rei started dragging out the guest futon to lay beside his bed.

"Um…" Nagisa was shuffling awkwardly. "I don’t have any pyjamas."

"That’s not a problem. You can borrow mine." Rei crossed over to his dresser and found a spare set.

"No, that’s—." Nagisa stammered as he accepted them. "Are you sure that’s okay?"

"Why are you being so overly thoughtful today?" Rei asked, confused. "It’s not like you at all."

"No reason!" Nagisa squeaked, disappearing out the door.

Rei listened to his small, quick footsteps padding to the bathroom in a panic, and almost called after him,  _You can just get changed in here! We’re both boys, after all!_

And that was when he realized that he was the biggest idiot in the world.

While Nagisa was in the bathroom, Rei took the opportunity to change and was already lying in bed, covers tucked up around him like a shield, when Nagisa returned.

He walked in with small steps, clad in pyjamas that were several sizes too big, the sleeves hanging off his hands and bunched around his feet. He looked ridiculous. He looked— he looked—

_Adorable._

"Thank you, Rei-chan," he said softly, sliding beneath the covers of his makeshift bed.

"It’s nothing," Rei replied, staring resolutely at the ceiling. "Good night."

After the light was turned off, and Nagisa’s breathing slowly deepened and turned into soft snores, Rei remained staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t drift off. Seconds ticked by, then minutes, then more, and still Rei couldn’t sleep.

Perhaps it would’ve been easier, if he didn’t feel the need to glance over at Nagisa every few minutes. His eyes had now had time to adjust to the dark, and he could see nearly every detail in Nagisa’s sleeping face.

He could see the pale expanse of Nagisa’s collarbones leading down from the neck before disappearing beneath his pyjamas.

 _Rei’s_  pyjamas. Nagisa was wearing—.

Rei’s heart did a funny little jump.

Nagisa murmured something nonsensical and shifted in his sleep, stretching his neck and exposing the soft curve of his throat to Rei’s eyes. The top button on the borrowed pyjamas slipped from its loop, revealing even more of the white chest beneath.

Rei’s heart jumped again, and a spark of electricity skittered down to his lower belly.

_Oh god. No._

He clenched his eyes shut and turned his face up to the ceiling once again.

_Sleep, Rei. Please go to sleep._

And, eventually, he did.

 

**Sunday (1 Day Left)**

The next morning, Rei woke to an empty guest futon and the furious sound of pencil scribbling on paper.

"…Nagisa…kun?" Rubbing his eyes, Rei sat up and tried to parse the sight before him.

Nagisa. Dressed in his clothes from yesterday. Back hunched over Rei’s table. Books open and strewn around him. Studying.

On his own. With no nagging from Rei. At 7:30 in the morning.

"Nagisa-kun?"

No response.

Rei was out of bed and sitting beside Nagisa before he got any kind of acknowledgement.

"Nagisa-kun."

"Ack!" Nagisa practically hit the ceiling. "Ah! Rei-chan! Good morning."

Rei couldn’t help but smile. It was kind of sweet, seeing Nagisa so serious about his studies like this.

"Shall we go have some breakfast?" Rei asked. "I’ll make it."

"Uh, no thank you," Nagisa replied politely, turning back to his workbook.

"I  _can_  make a good breakfast, you know.” Rei squinted in irritation. “Nutritionally balanced and perfectly designed to give an energy boost needed for effective studying.”

Nagisa didn’t respond.

"Well,  _I’m_  going to go have breakfast.”

"Okay, Rei-chan."

An hour later, washed, clothed, and fed, Rei returned to the bedroom. Nagisa hadn’t moved an inch, though he had made significant progress through his books.

"Aren’t you hungry yet?"

"I’m fine."

"At least let me get you a drink."

"I’m really fine, Rei-chan."

"You know, this isn’t responsible stud—."

"Stop fussing! I said I was fine!"

Rei faltered. Nagisa froze.

With a guilty face, he finally turned away from his books and said, “Sorry, Rei-chan.”

Still shaken, Rei managed to reply, “N-no, it was nothing.”

"It’s just—." Nagisa looked troubled. "This is my last chance. I can’t slack off now."

For the first time that morning— no. Maybe for the first time since Nagisa had confessed to him, Rei  _really_  looked at his friend. He was pale — paler than he was a week ago. His eyes looked puffy and strained, and every muscle in his back was rock hard with tension.

_Exactly how hard has he been pushing himself…?_

In that moment, Rei made a decision.

"There’s a theory that relates to this," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose and striking his best know-it-all pose.

"Oh?" Nagisa’s eyes were already wandering back to his workbook.

"Yes! A very important theory! That says that the best results come from a place of total calm!"

"Okay…" Nagisa said slowly. "I guess that sounds like it could make sense."

"It makes total sense!" Rei yelled, then lowered his voice to ask, "Nagisa-kun, do you trust me?"

Nagisa looked conflicted for a moment, before his eyes cleared in that familiar, endearing way.

"Of course!"

Rei adopted a smug grin and held out his hand. “Then come with me.”

Hesitating for only a moment, Nagisa reached out and accepted, placing his own, small hand in Rei’s palm.

Rei squeezed. It was warm.

 

**Sunday Night (10 Hours Left)**

What an absolutely exhausting day. First, a stop at the closest cafe to get some food into Nagisa’s belly. Then the rest of the morning and early afternoon in a karaoke box, with Rei having to sing three ridiculously over-dramatic romantic ballads in a row before Nagisa loosened up enough to join in.

It was strange, actually, how easy this day of playing hooky had been for Rei. Normally, for him, the day before a test was a day reserved solely for preparing. But, for Nagisa’s sake, such a wasted day had its own merit.

"Rei-chan," he had asked in a quiet moment as they sat waiting for Nagisa’s train that evening, "Did you do this on purpose?"

Rei had panicked a little — embarrassed at being caught. He’d wanted to do something nice for Nagisa — that didn’t mean he wanted to  _talk_  about it.

"I-I don’t know what you mean," he had replied.

Nagisa had held his gaze for a moment that stretched just a little too long to be comfortable, then ducked his head so that Rei couldn’t see his expression.

At the time, Rei had thought it was cute and kind of silly — how embarrassed they both were.

But now, lying in in bed, alone but once again unable to sleep, he was starting to wonder if maybe he had been wrong. That maybe when Nagisa asked if Rei had distracted him on purpose, what he’d really meant to say was…

_"Do you want me to fail tomorrow?"_

"That’s not it!" Rei exclaimed to the dark emptiness around him. "I don’t want—!"

_I don’t want him to fail._

A jolt ran through his entire body, and Rei swung up into a sitting position, breath suddenly in short supply.

_Oh god, I don’t want him to fail._

He wanted Nagisa to do well— to do  _great_. He wanted Nagisa to get the top score. And not just because he’d worked so hard. Not just because he deserved it.

_I want a do-over._

He wanted Nagisa to confess again. But this time it would be different. He wouldn’t get scared, or try to laugh it off, or make up a hundred excuses why it would never work. He wanted Nagisa to say those words one more time. Then he could say them back, couldn’t he?

_I think I like you, too._

It was never going to happen, of course. There was no way that Nagisa would be able to surpass him after only a few days of hard work. Rei had always known that.

So, Rei was going to have to ask him to confess again — no matter the scores — and this time… he would accept.

 

**Monday (Test Day)**

Rei was hurrying to the classroom when Makoto and Haru called out to him.

"You have that math test next, right?" Makoto said warmly. "Do your best."

"You’ll be fine, as usual," Haruka echoed.

Despite Nagisa’s studies having taken a negative toll on his own preparations, Rei didn’t have to fake his confidence.

"Not to worry," he grinned smugly. "I always get the top score. It’s a done deal."

"Ah, Nagisa! Good morning!" Makoto suddenly cried, looking just past Rei’s shoulder.

Rei turned to give his own greeting, but stopped short at the look on Nagisa’s face. It was that complicated, somehow deeply unsettling expression again. And why wasn’t he saying anything?

"…Mako-chan, Haru-chan — good morning!" He broke out into a wide smile just a fraction of a second too late to feel convincing to Rei.

Even so, that smile was bright as the sun. There was never any denying that Nagisa was a cheerful boy, but Rei couldn’t believe he’d never noticed it before — the way he  _shone_. He’d never noticed how beautiful Nagisa was.

After last night’s epiphany… it was like looking at some gorgeous…  _something_ he’d never seen before.

And then the bell rang, and there was no more time to dwell.

After the class was sat and the papers handed out, Rei dove into the test with his trademark zeal. Still, as he answered question after question, he couldn’t help but take frequent breaks to glance sneakily back at Nagisa.

It was against the rules, and dangerous, and utterly out of character for him, but he simply couldn’t stop himself; couldn’t keep his eyes from wandering back to Nagisa, sitting there at the back of the room.

Because, as far as Rei could tell, so far Nagisa hadn’t written  _anything_.

_What’s going on…?_

It was at the fifteen minute mark that he finally caught a glimpse of Nagisa writing with furious energy, scratching his pencil so hard against the paper that he was liable to tear it at any moment.

After only about twenty more minutes, Rei saw Nagisa drop his pencil and turn over his paper to signify that he was done. From then on, every time Rei risked a look, he only saw Nagisa staring straight ahead, arms crossed.

_What the—! Isn’t he supposed to be taking this seriously?_

Rei’s heart wavered, suddenly unsure. Could he have changed his mind? After Rei finally found his answer? Did Nagisa not need it anymore?

Somehow, Rei managed to struggle the rest of the way through his own test. After class, Nagisa didn’t wait for him before handing his paper to the teacher and walking out.

There was no swim club that afternoon, and Nagisa was still nowhere to be seen, so Rei was preparing to head home when the English teacher caught him and asked if he could bring the class’ workbooks to the teachers’ room.

Placing the pile of books in the right pigeon hole, Rei suddenly froze when he heard  _"Nagisa,"_  come out of Saito-sensei’s mouth as he conversed with a small group of teachers.

"I don’t even know what to say. The whole thing is so—. Ryugazaki-kun?"

Rei went ramrod straight, face red at getting caught eavesdropping. “Yes!”

Saito-sensei paused for a moment before mellowing a little. “Actually, maybe you can help shed some light on this.”

Rei approached and was handed a few sheets of paper. Nagisa’s test paper, to be exact. After getting the nod that it was okay, he opened it to the first page.

Eyes wide, he flipped to the next page, then the next. Every single page was covered in big, deliberate scribble.  _Rei-chan is an IDIOT!_  Line after line, leaving hardly any blank space.  _Rei-chan is an IDIOT!_

Rei handed back the paper and left in a blur. He couldn’t even be sure that he’d excused himself properly. Every fibre of him had only one purpose: to find Nagisa.

And he did find him — just as he was heading out of the school gate.

"Nagisa-kun! Wait!"

Either Nagisa didn’t hear him or—. No. Time to be honest. Nagisa had heard him, but was walking on anyway.

"Nagisa-kun!" Rei ran up from behind. "I, uh…"

And what was he supposed to say?  _I’m worried I might have actually driven you crazy?_

He foundered, and this was usually the point when Nagisa would jump in to help him… but, this time, there was nothing but silence, and Rei was on his own.

"…S-shall we walk to the station together?"

Nagisa didn’t say anything, or raise his eyes, but he didn’t refuse, so Rei fell into step beside him.

They walked in silence until they reached the train station. Then, for a change of pace, they sat in silence.

"Rei-chan…"

The sudden voice was so quiet, and so unexpected, it took Rei a moment to tune in to what Nagisa was saying.

"Let’s forget it."

It was ice-cold water.

"What?" Rei’s eyes snapped to Nagisa, but could only land on his down-turned face.

"I want you to forget the competition and the prize. Forget I ever said anything. Forget— just forget everything." The words trembled out of Nagisa’s mouth. "Please."

Rei’s heart twisted.

"Why?" he asked.

Nagisa didn’t answer. The train arrived.

They sat side-by-side in total quiet until Nagisa’s stop. When he disembarked, Rei followed. Rei followed him off the train, through the station, and halfway to Nagisa’s house before Nagisa finally snapped.

"Are you going to follow me all the way home?" He sounded irritated. Angry.

"If I have to," Rei replied.

_You haven’t answered my question yet._

When they reached the house, Rei went to step in after Nagisa, only to find the door shut in his face. Blinking, he took a few steps back.

_I’ve never seen him this angry._

Well, he didn’t come this far to give up now. Slipping his bag from his shoulder, Rei dropped to a crouch and settled in for the long haul…

…Only for the door to slam open again, and Nagisa’s head to peek through.

"Come in, Rei-chan," he said with a sigh.

"E-excuse me," Rei muttered as he passed the threshold.

They went straight to Nagisa’s room. As soon as the door shut behind them, Nagisa began.

"I’m not stupid. I’m not _that_  stupid. I knew it was pointless from the beginning.” He launched into a tirade, feelings bubbling to the surface. “I  _know_ , Rei-chan. I always knew. You only proposed that condition because you felt cornered. You knew I’d never be able to meet it.”

Rei wanted to interject, because it was so hard, so awful to watch Nagisa rattling apart like this. But he couldn’t refute any of those accusations. As always, Nagisa had a grasp on the very heart of him.

"And it’s okay, Rei-chan. Really." Nagisa thrust his hands into his hair and grabbed two tufts like he was trying to tear them out, pacing the room, voice beginning to shake. "We were both dishonest, but I’m probably the bad guy in this situation, right? Because I’m the one that backed you into that corner."

Rei’s mouth worked around soundless words, body petrified by emotion.

"So, that’s why…" Nagisa finally let out a long breath and turned to face Rei eye-to-eye. "You should just forget everything."

 _You really are an idiot_ , Rei wanted to say to him.  _You can’t say that to someone who’s already fallen._

But Rei couldn’t say that, so he kissed him.

For a moment, Nagisa melted. All the anger, the humiliation, the grief, dissolving between their lips. There were hands bunched in Rei’s shirt, holding him close. Then, suddenly, there were hands on Rei’s chest, pushing him away.

"W-what was that?"

Rei’s pulse was thudding. His vision had momentarily deserted him.

"Why would you—!" Nagisa’s voice rose in volume. "What are you trying to do?!"

"I— I—."

"Get out! Please, just go!"

Guilt and pain and terror washed over Rei like a wave and he could only try stammering out an explanation that had no hope of going anywhere. Though, when he could once again see straight enough to make out Nagisa’s face, the wave began to ebb.

Nagisa’s face was flushed, his mouth open and panting, his shoulders trembling. Even Rei could tell what this was —  _want_. Wanting to believe. Wanting _Rei._

A flare of hope lit in his chest, and even as Rei opened the bedroom door, he was steeling his resolve. Before he stepped through, he paused to address Nagisa, who looked like he was about to fall apart.

"I’ll go. I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable." Rei brought his finger up to point it directly at Nagisa. "But if you’re voiding the condition, then I want to set a new one."

Nagisa, even with his internal self-destruction sequence counting down as they spoke, looked up in surprise at Rei’s declaration.

"If I beat you in that last math test, then  _you_  have to go out with  _me_.”

The feelings that played out across Nagisa’s face were naked and obvious. There was shock, and confusion, and the fear of a person once-burned. He huffed in disbelief, but it was obvious how much he  _wanted_  to hope.

For now, that was the best Rei could ask for. He left without another word.

 

**Wednesday (Results Day)**

In his hands, Rei held his returned test paper. Or, at least, that’s what anyone looking at him would think. But none of them could know the truth. That what Rei held in his hands was  _everything_. Because this was the moment.

Swim practice was long over, and he was waiting alone in the locker room. Nagisa had missed practice today in order to take a make-up test that was to be graded immediately after.

They hadn’t exchanged many words these past few days, but Rei had at least managed to extract a promise to meet him here as soon as Nagisa had his result.

"Rei-chan," came a soft voice from the doorway.

Nagisa came to a stop a couple of steps away from Rei, who had risen to meet him. They were both clinging to their papers.

"I’ll go first," Rei said in a voice that he hoped sounded strong and confident.

He revealed the big red percentage on the corner of the top page and Nagisa gave a small, helpless, sad smile.

"97%? That’s great, Rei-chan."

"Hm. I’m slipping," Rei started to complain before he remembered why they were here. "Uh, your turn."

Nagisa took a deep breath and turned his paper around.

72%.

It was an incredible achievement. Rei took a moment to swell with pride. But he could tell Nagisa how amazing it was later. If he didn’t say this thing now, he’d lose his nerve forever.

"Nagisa-kun. I have to tell you something."

Nagisa eyed him warily.

"I like you. I really do like you so much. I’m sorry it took me so long to work it out." Rei dropped into a bow. "Please date me."

When he finally grew the courage to open his eyes, he saw Nagisa’s red, teary face — free of doubt or suspicion — and had never felt so  _fantastic_.

"S-so," Rei continued, his own eyes beginning to sting, "You  _have_  to accept. We agreed.”

Nagisa, tears finally spilling over, closed the gap between them.

"I guess—." The words caught in his throat, and he had to try again. "I guess I’ll have to put up with it then, since I have no choice."

"None at all," Rei said, and kissed him.


End file.
